Hallyu seeks breakthrough in Japan

Choi Ji-woo, left, and Bae Yong-joon in a scene from “Winter Sonata.” / Korea Times

By Kwon Mee-yoo

This year marks the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945) as well as the 50th anniversary of normalization of Korea-Japan diplomatic ties. Despite room for congratulation, relations between the two neighboring countries have been chillier than ever and "hallyu," or the Korean wave, in Japan also has not been as big as it once was.

Cultural relations between Korea and Japan were almost unilateral until the 1990s as Korea mostly received Japanese culture from music and film to animation and fashion.

However, the atmosphere was reversed in the early 2000s. The 2002 Korean drama "Winter Sonata," starring heartthrob Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo, was immensely popular in Japan when it aired on Japanese network NHK in 2003, when the term hallyu was coined.

K-pop music also became popular. Korean singers, including TVXQ and BoA, were featured at one of Japan's biggest annual music shows, "Kohaku Uta Gassen," from 2001 to 2009 and tickets for K-pop concerts were sold out in minutes.

According to the Korea International Trade Association, Korea exported $490 million of cultural content to Japan in 2007 and that amount jumped to $1.46 billion in 2013, which is an annual average increase of about 20 percent. But the rate of increase has slowed in recent years due to fraying ties between Korea and Japan.

Park Cheol-hee, director of the Institute for Japanese Studies at Seoul National University, said the recent deterioration of Korea-Japan relations could be a reaction to the rapid improvement in bilateral ties.

"When Korea opened up the gates to Japanese culture in the '90s, many worried Korean culture might be eaten into by Japan, but the sequence was opposite of expectations," Park said. "Hallyu hit Japan and Korean singers and actors became well known in Japan. The growing anti-Korean sentiment might come from jealousy."

Despite the declining hallyu, dedicated hallyu fans still lavish time and money on their favorite singers. In June, boy band CNBlue sold out nine concerts in Japan.

Entertainment companies also do more than just sell popular dramas to Japan. In April, entertainment giant CJ E&M held KCON 2015 Japan in Tokyo. KCON, which combines a K-pop concert and industrial fair promoting Korean culture, was launched in Los Angeles in 2012 and expanded to Japan this year.

The Tokyo edition of KCON drew more than 15,000 visitors to the concert, starring Infinite, Block B, Supernova and Sistar. Some 65 companies participated in the expo to promote various fashion, food and IT products.

"Hallyu was originated in Japan about 20 years ago, but most of the exports were centered on concerts and dramas that generated immediate benefits and seemingly cooled down in recent years,” a CJ E&M official said. “KCON offered a new possibility of a market opening, combining culture and novelty products of small and medium-sized companies of Korea."

Kang Tae-woong, professor of Northeast Asia Cultural Industries at Kwangwoon University, said mutual interchange between the two countries is the key to reignite the hallyu boom.

"Despite the strained relations between Korea and Japan, cultural exchange should continue to provide the foundation of the bilateral ties,” Kang said. “In the future, the relations will improve when Japan apologizes for their past misdeeds, and we have to prepare for it."

Kang said lifting remaining bans on Japanese popular culture in Korea would awaken public sentiment in Japan to regain hallyu.

"There are no regulations on Korean culture in Japan, but Japanese people have animosity toward Korean culture and some of them insist that hallyu is an unfair exchange as Japanese dramas and songs are still banned from Korean TV networks and radio,” Kang said. “Removing the restrictions might boost hallyu in Japan."